but overshadowing it all is america's growing debt, now totaling more than $11 trillion, on track to nearly double over the next ten years to nearly 20 trillion. as the government continues spending money it doesn't have. so what does it all mean? anthony mason explains. >> reporter: here's the bottom line on america's ballooning budget deficit. >> it means you're going to ultimately be paying higher taxes. >> reporter: the total national debt, according to one study, amounts to $184,000 for every mn man, woman, and child in the country. it's like a massive mortgage we're all paying interest on. the u.s. is still a $14 trillion economy, but the nation's debt is now more than 50% of the country's economic output, the first time that's happened since world war ii. >> debt in the united states is growing so rapidly we're viewed by the rest of the world as profligate, imprudent and incapable of managing our own affairs. >> reporter: the government has been spending borrowed money to fight the recession and to finance wars in iraq and afghanistan and the debt is expected to continue to gr